


I’ll catch you, I promise

by Atalto



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Fem!Lance, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lance is a good girlfriend, Panic Attacks, Romance, Shance support week, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro is a Mess, day 1: build me up, fem!shance, fem!shiro - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atalto/pseuds/Atalto
Summary: On this side of the hangar, the Black Lion was terrifying.They were larger than Shiro ever thought they were, huge and intimidating as they sat haunch in front of her. The shadows they casted stretched across the metallic floor, and the dead, lightless eyes seemed to stare her down despite not quite being angled in his direction.Shiro had been in the Hangar for ten minutes.The lion hadn’t moved.





	I’ll catch you, I promise

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> This is a small little piece for Shance support week, day 1! I hope y’all don’t mind I made it Fem!Shance :’)  
> However, this is the only piece I have for SSW. I had others planned, but it’s been a really rough period of time for me, so I hope this is okay, I’m really sorry. I might finish them at a later date, but it might not be soon.  
> I’d like to dedicate this piece to my friends Nogu and Mint! I owe y’all a million fics bc y’all lovely, tbh.  
> Enjoy!

On this side of the hangar, the Black Lion was terrifying.

  
They were larger than Shiro ever thought they were, huge and intimidating as they sat haunch in front of her. The shadows they casted stretched across the metallic floor, and the dead, lightless eyes seemed to stare her down despite not quite being angled in his direction.

  
She thought it would be the same as before; they would perk up whenever she entered the hangar, eyes glowing a bright gold and robotic legs moving to prop its body up.

Shiro had been in the hangar for ten minutes. The lion hadn't moved.

_What do you want from me?_

No reply.

_What do I have to do?_

No reply.

_Why don't you trust me?_

Silence.

In front of her, the Lion remained unresponsive, still in the thick tension that had settled over the hangar. Shiro gasped, inhaling deeply after releasing a breath she didn't realise she had been holding. The headache at the front of her skull had come back full force, pulsing and throbbing with each thought she attempted to push through the old bond.

  
She didn't even realise she'd clamped her eyes shut until she opened them again, letting the bright lights hit her with force. She stumbled backwards, slamming into a wall at the opposing edge of the hanger. The back of her head connected with the metal harshly, and she slid to the floor with a quiet cry of pain.  
The Black Lion didn't move.

They had been like this for a while now, and it certainly wasn't a scene that Shiro was new to. Ever since she'd piloted Black after Keith left to join the Blade of Marmora, the Lion rarely spoke to her. It wasn't like how they were before she somehow ended up back in Galra hands; Black would have been a constant, yet, comforting presence in the back of her mind, supporting her every move and offering gentle advice to the ideas they thought were less than stellar.

  
But now? There was just silence, and an empty space where a voice used to be. The Lion would only ever respond to her if they needed to, in cases of attacks or coalition shows. The bayard didn't respond to her either - she guessed that was relating to her Lion's hostility - and remained lifeless whenever she held it.

  
This was useless. She cradled her head in her hands, a futile attempt to ease the throb, but no comfort came. Just the darkness created by covering her eyes, and the temporary ease of the cold metal hand against her aching head that went as soon as it came.

  
Her stomach rumbled, a reminder dinner was soon, but the Princess spent most of dinner these days looking at her warily, like a dangerous animal in a zoo.

  
If she was lucky, maybe Hunk would bring some food to her room again, or tell her where the leftovers are over the training room speakers, but most days she either goes without or faces the awkwardness that the dining room brings.

Unless-

  
"Hey, Shiro," a voice called from somewhere above her. "you doin' okay?"

  
At that moment, she couldn't quite put the voice to a face, the headache seemingly having cut off any attempts to focus on the present. She tried looking up, but the light just hurt her eyes even more, which made the headache worse.

  
Something - a hand? - touched her shoulder lightly, thumb pad rubbing circles into the muscle of her neck. "It's okay buddy, don't move unless you have to."

The thumb stilled, before restarting as the voice clicked her tongue in thought. "Lights to twenty-five percent, please!"

Something dimmed behind her eyelids, and Shiro felt herself open her eyes. They seemed to sting, but not as much as they did before, and her back was starting to ache from being hunched against a wall.

  
"That's it, Shiro, you're doing great," the voice assured her, now starting to sound more familiar, "can you look up at me?"

  
Look up? She can probably do that now.

  
Slowly as to not strain her eyes any further, Shiro lifted her head in front of her, only to see Lance crouched in front of her, face full of concern whilst one hand rested on Shiro's shoulder. A gentle smile moved over her face as Shiro looked longer, and Lance's hand began kneading into her neck muscles once again.

  
"Take your time, it's okay," Lance said quietly, shuffling to sit in a better position, "there's really no rush."

  
"But, dinner-"

  
"It can wait," Lance interjected, "if you want, I'll get Hunk to plate some up for you to have later?"

  
Shiro nodded slowly, feeling herself give a small smile. "I'd like that."

  
"Alright then, that's what we'll do."

They lapsed into quiet after that, into a simple rhythm of Shiro slowly getting adjusted to the light, and Lance silently urging him along.

  
"Lance," Shiro eventually asked, cringing at the croak of her voice, "are you sure I'm the pilot the team needs?"

  
"Woah, woah," Lance replied quickly, shifting once again and moving her hand to cup Shiro's face, "of course you are, you're the Black Paladin, dude, no one could replace you." She laughed awkwardly, before focusing back on Shiro. "I mean, Keith tried, but he wasn't you, no way."

  
"From what I hear, Keith did a good enough job whilst I was gone," Shiro mused in response, "Black isn't even-"

  
"Well, Black can go fuck itself," Lance responded, and Shiro was taken back by her sudden outburst, "sorry, but you're the best Paladin out of all of us, and if Black can't see that, that's their problem."

  
Lance's hand retracted slowly so she could sit up, and Shiro felt herself uncoil.  
"Do you really think that?"

  
"Duh, of course," Lance shot back, rolling her eyes affectionately, "your plans are always amazing, your fighting is, like, unbelievable, and we're forming Voltron so much better now you're back-"

  
"I don't care about that," Shiro said forcefully, and she tried not to notice the way Lance flinched back, "anyone can fight, anyone can come up with a plan, that's not-" She stopped herself before she finished her sentence, biting down hard on her lip.

"Come on, Shiro," she heard Lance say warmly, "talk to me."

  
Shiro shook her head, moving to stand, when the pain flared at the front of her head once again. With a groan, she fell back against the wall, propping herself up on shaking legs. Lance moved quickly in response, grabbing her shoulders to balance her before she toppled over again.

  
"Shiro?" Lance asked, concern starting to bleed into her voice, "what's wrong?"

  
Shiro raised her hand to where she guessed the pain was, arm feeling like lead as she raised her to her head.

  
"Your head- is the headache back?"

  
Shiro nodded, hissing in pain as the lights attacked her eyes again. She heard Lance hum in thought, before she was moved forwards, Lance moving him to loop her arms around Shiro's shoulders.

  
"How about we go back to your room, and we'll talk about this there?" Lance suggested, and Shiro hoped she nodded in response.

The trek back to Shiro's room seemed longer than it actually was. That may have had something to do with Lance having to fend off Allura at one point, who met them in a corridor and practically demanded Shiro be placed in a cryopod. Lance managed to get away, but the throbbing in her head somehow led to her forgetting half the conversation.

  
The next thing she knew, Lance was guiding her onto a bed, helping her sit against the pillows rather then the hard wall and tossing her legs over when she couldn't quite move them. The lights suddenly dimmed, and she heard the door open; Lance was discussing something quietly with someone who's voice Shiro couldn't quite make out, but the doors slid shut soon after, leaving Lance to place some items on the small bedside table with a clatter before climbing in next to Shiro.

"Is that better for ya'?" She heard Lance ask, and she nodded gratefully, cracking one eye open to test the light levels.

  
"Good," Lance replied, before leaning over and retrieving a pouch of water. Piercing the top quickly, Lance held it over for Shiro to take from her. "Hunk just dropped this around," she explained as Shiro lifted the straw to her mouth, "along with an ice pack, and some goo for later on if you feel better. No pressure though, whenever you feel like it- Take small sips!"

  
Shiro stopped, looking up at Lance in surprise before laughing around the straw.

  
"I guess I was just thirsty," she replied gingerly, laughing again at Lance's exaggerated pout.

  
"You are the worst patient ever, missus," Lance grumbled, falling sideways so her head was on Shiro's shoulder, "can't even take doctor's orders, damn, you must have been awful as a kid."

  
Shaking her head, Shiro returned to slowly drinking whatever was left in the water pouch. Once it was empty, she handed it back to Lance, who grinned and tossed it off the bed.

  
"Does that feel a bit better now?"

  
Now that she thought about it, the pain in her head had receded. "A bit, thank you Lance."

  
Lance grinned up at her, before the grin fell and Lance was pressed up against her side.  
"Do ya' want to talk about what happened in there?" She asked gently, and Shiro knew she couldn't escape.

"The lion wouldn't respond to me," she said finally, and Lance's concerned gaze increased in intensity, "I kept trying and nothing would work so I-" she paused, feeling the heaviness of the room, "-I panicked, I guess."

  
There was a brief period of silence afterwards, and all Shiro could hear was Lance's breathing in the white noise of the room.

  
"I'm sorry, babe," Lance eventually said, moving to look up at Shiro, "you know we'd never want you to step down, right? Well, unless you do, but all this kind of suggests you don't, so-"

  
"I like it here," Shiro explained in what felt like a small voice, and Lance fell silent, "I like being part of the team. But if I can't get my lion to fly for me, who am I to say I'm part of the team anymore?"

  
"Hey, even if you can't fly a lion - which you can, may I add - you're still part of the team," Lance countered, "like, before Allura piloted Blue, she was in the team, and Coran is in the team even through he's never piloted a lion in his life."

  
Shiro hummed in acknowledgment, moving an arm to pull Lance closer. "But what would I do? The last time I wasn't piloting, I spent the entire time treading on Keith's toes."

  
"Well, you'd train us, for a start," Lance suggested, "since Allura doesn't know how humans work yet, and Keith doesn't get that people fight with things that aren't swords sometimes."

  
"I guess-"

  
"And you're really good with tactics, so you can come up with plans even if you're not in the Lion."

  
Lance threw an arm over Shiro's chest, looking up at her with blue eyes that Shiro felt she could easily get lost in.

  
"We want you here - I want you here - and maybe Black just can't see that yet," Lance offered, never looking away from Shiro for a second, "but they'll come round, I know they will, and then we'll be flying just like we were before." A gentle punch connected with her upper arm as Lance shot her a grin. "I promise."

Suddenly the view blurred, and Shiro felt the panic rise once again before she realised it was tears, not the Galra. Her cheeks felt wet and sticky, and it felt like something was stuck in his throat. She wanted to leave, wanted to hide, ride this out in the cover of lonely darkness like she usually did, why should now be any different?

"Lance, I-"

  
A hushing sound met her as Lance shifted to pull Shiro into a hug. "Let it out, babe, it's okay."

She cried for what felt like hours, but Lance never once left; instead, she was a constant presence, letting Shiro bury her face in the crook of her neck, and tracing patterns on the small of her back with light fingertips. Her free hand moved to rake through Shiro's short hair, and Shiro found herself focusing on the rise and fall of the chest she was pressed against.

In her ears, she could just about hear Lance's heartbeat, much slower than her own but a calming rhythm in the white noise of the room. She could also hear Lance had began to hum at some point; she didn't recognise the tune, but the rumbling notes were more than enough to drown out the silence.

"I've got snot on your jacket," Shiro stated slowly, but Lance just laughed.

  
"It's fine," she countered, "I'll just wash it."

As soon as she finished the sentence, she started humming again, and Shiro felt herself relax at the now familiar notes.

"You know everything I said was true, right?" Lance quietly asked later, voice cutting through the silence.

  
"I-"

  
"I didn't just say them to be nice, I mean it, we would never, never, replace you."

  
"Thank you, Lance."

She was then gently moved into a more horizontal position, lying on the bed but still wrapped up in Lance's arms. She felt safe in a way she had never before, comfortable in the knowledge that Lance was there for her.

  
"We love you, Shiro, you know that, right?"

  
Before thought could stop her, Shiro smiled, and placed a gentle kiss on Lance's neck.  
"I love you too, you always know how to build me up."

  
A snicker met her, and Lance playfully poked her in the back. "Go to sleep, Missus, crow knows you need it."

For the first time in what felt like forever, she did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!  
> Please leave kudos/comment, thank you :’D


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